I turned to Nolan and then Luca. “Only if Nolan comes with.”
Nolan cleared his throat into his fist, hesitant to make eye contact with Luca, like he was either scared of Luca or making it clear that this was Luca’s domain.
“Whatever,” Luca said as he stepped onto the bus. “It’s not like a private event or something.”
“Thank you so much for the warm invitation!” Nolan called after him, and I couldn’t help but snort.
Angel was right. It would have been a crime to deprive myself of a visit to the North Pole. I was sure this outing definitely broke at least one rule on Teddy’s list, but if I went down with this ship so be it.
Every inch of the place was decked out in multicoloredChristmas lights and vintage blow molds of everything from Santa and his reindeer to giant flickering candles.
“Does anyone else hear a tooting noise?” Nolan asked as a hostess named Peppermint, who was dressed as a sexy elf, escorted us to our seats.
I tilted my head to listen and sure enough I heard it just in time to see a toy train chug over the top of the stage.
“Is this your first time with us?” Peppermint asked Nolan and me as she sat the four of us at the end of the stage where the runway jutted out into the club. “Those two have turned into regulars quicker than you can say Santa’s little stripper. I tried to tell them we’ve got only ladies dancing up on that stage, but that hasn’t stopped them.”
“We’re patrons of the arts,” Luca clarified.
I smiled at Peppermint. “Yes, this is our first time.”
“Well, tonight’s drink special is Grinch Punch: peach schnapps, Sprite, rum, blue curaçao, and orange juice. Appetizers are half off until midnight. Don’t try the egg rolls, and don’t ask me why.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Nolan muttered.
Angel ordered Grinch Punch and mozzarella sticks for the table, and just as Peppermint slipped away, blue light washed over the stage as “Santa Baby” began to play and a sexy Mrs.Claus slinked out onto the stage.
Luca let out a wolf whistle. “That’s Prancer,” he told us. “Well, actually, her name is Whitney, but all the dancers go by reindeer names.”
I glanced around at the kitschy decor and the limber danceras she slid effortlessly down the pole. I’d done a little bit of pole dancing for scenes before and was forever impressed by anyone who could make it look easy. “This place would kill in L.A.”
I let the corner of my vision drift to creep on Nolan as discreetly as possible. I couldn’t blame him for drooling over Prancer, but instead his gaze met mine as though he’d been watching me become fully consumed by the seasonally appropriate pole dance in front of us.
Luca interrupted the moment as he reached past me and tossed some dollar bills in our laps. “I expect repayment with interest and inflation.”
Nolan held up a dollar and said, “I don’t typically borrow money from anyone, but who am I to deny local entrepreneurs of their hard-earned cash?”
Just then, Prancer reached off the stage and plucked the dollar from his fingers with a wink.
“And for that,” I told her over the music, “you get more dollars!”
With a giggle, she laid down in front of us, arched her back, and slid out of her bra to reveal two Santa hat pasties as we showered her with dollar bills. Merry Christmas to me!
The four of us ordered more appetizers and drinks as the club began to fill up a bit more without ever feeling crowded. Something about this slightly musty place with its glowing lights dripped in tinsel made me feel like the outside world didn’t exist and there was no danger of what would happen if all this came crumbling down. Inside here, it was only holiday joy, too-sweet drinks, and half-off appetizers.
After a few more numbers, the dancers began to circulate the floor, and I made a beeline for the ATM because Sunny would kill me if I left without a lap dance. Sunny collected lap dances in new destinations like people collected key chains, so if she couldn’t be here to be on the receiving end, I at least had to get the full experience to properly relay the magic of this place to her.
As my fingers hovered above the keypad and I decided how much to withdraw, I glanced back to where Nolan sat in front of the stage. He seemed to be doing his best to only make eye contact with the dancers, which was far from the bad boy persona he’d so purposefully embodied for years.
Nolan deserved to have fun. He deserved to be a little irresponsible in a safe space, and I could be that for him. At the very least, maybe that tension threaded across his shoulders might ease a little with a pretty girl in his lap, even if that girl couldn’t be me.
I turned back to the ATM. Half the fun of buying a lap dance was also buying one for a friend, right?
“I just ordered a fresh plate of nachos,” Nolan said as he followed me through the club to one of the private rooms. “So what exactly are we—?”
He stopped midsentence as I paused in front of the curtain. There were only two things worth exploring at the back of a strip club: the bathrooms, which should not be visited unless it was an emergency, and the private rooms where private dances happened, which was likely familiar territory for Nolan.
“Bee,” he said firmly. “This feels like a bad idea.”
